


The Pathfinder

by KitsunesKnight



Series: Logan Holden - Mass Effect: Andromeda [1]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 13:01:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11601183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KitsunesKnight/pseuds/KitsunesKnight
Summary: Logan awakes in the aftermath of Habitat 7's events and finds out he's been handed a responsibility he never expected or wanted.





	The Pathfinder

Logan slowly blinked into consciousness, watching the dull steel ceiling shift from a tired blur to properly sharp vision. He blinked once model trying to remember what happened. It was all a blur. One second he was watching the sky clear with his father, the next he was… here.

Before he could ask himself where exactly here was, a familiar voice rang out. “Welcome back, Logan.”

It was the AI of the Hyperion ark, SAM. As good a place as any to get some answers while his brain woke up. “What happened?”

“You were clinically dead for twenty-two seconds.”

He sat up, groaning as his body resisted the action. “What… what about the others? What about my dad?”

Sudden movement from the ground in front of him made Logan jump, until he recognized it as Liam. “Hey… you're still with us!”

He stood up, looking tired. Logan guessed he'd been sitting there watching over him until he fell asleep. Liam blinked it away as he activated his omni-tool’s comm. “Guys, get to SAM Node, Holden’s awake!” After the message, he lowered his arm and looked closer at Logan. “Who were you talking to?”

“SAM,” Logan answered matter-of-factly, thinking it was obvious.

“I didn't hear him…” Liam replied, sounding confused.

Further discussion was cut off as Cora and Lexi ran in. The asari quickly began opening diagnostics on her omni-tool while Cora stood off to the side to take her own look at Logan.

“You're up!” Cora greeted as she walked in, obviously grateful to see he'd pulled through.

“Look here,” Lexi instructed, holding her omni-tool arm to one side.

Logan did, then she moved her arm to the other side. “Now here.”

She seemed satisfied as he followed her motions, but something else caught Logan's eye. A discarded helmet. N7. His father's.

“Where's my dad?” He asked, glancing up to Cora.

The Lieutenant glanced down, avoiding Logan's gaze, then shared a glance with Lexi, who seemed at a loss for words. Logan's gut wrenched. He prayed he wasn't about to hear what he thought he was.

“It was your life or his,” Cora answered finally. “And he chose yours.”

Logan's heart skipped a beat. He squeezed his eyes shut and lowered his head, fingers gripping into his pants as he tried to process that. His father was dead. Elite N7 soldier, lead Pathfinder of the Hyperion ark, one of the first humans to touch down on a world of the Andromeda galaxy. Dead. To save his son. Logan swallowed and opened his eyes again, forcing himself to relax.

“I'm sorry Logan,” Cora continued after giving him his moment. “I know this must be a blow.”

Logan nodded. “He… he did what he had to. He saved me, saved the team. We would've all died down there if he hadn't…” his voice hitched, so he took a breath and sighed, head lowering again. “I just can't believe he's gone…”

There was silence for a moment, not quite awkward, but not quite respectful distance either. Cora eventually broke it.

“You know… he once said, that when his time came, he wanted to go out among stars that no one has seen before.”

Logan nodded. Liam came up behind Cora, put a hand on her shoulder, then came up and did the same to Logan. He did his best to remember that Cora and his dad were also fairly close. She had to be devastated by this too. He shook his head, he knew this would be dangerous, and he couldn't do anything else about it right now. Certainly not with a room full of people. Instead, he took a breath and questioned said room.

“What, ah, what are we doing in SAM Node anyway?” Logan asked with a final sniff and steadying breath.

This definitely wasn't the medbay, Logan had been sleeping on essentially a metal slab, which had caused an ache in his shoulders. No, this was the room that SAM essentially lived in, where his interface and core was found. Definitely not where you'd take someone who had clinically died for twenty-two seconds.

Lexi stepped forward. “SAM is… a part of you now. In a way we don't fully understand. It played havoc with your brain.

What the heck did that mean? “SAM?” Logan called out to the room.

“Your father authorized the transfer of Pathfinder authority to you,” the AI answered.

“Wait, what!?” Logan exclaimed. “Me? Why me? I thought that was supposed to be Cora!” What did this mean?

“In theory, yes,” Cora responded evenly. “In reality… You're the new Pathfinder, Logan.”

Logan just stared at Cora. Then glanced at Liam and Lexi. No one was laughing so it wasn't a joke. No, this was real. Logan was now the leader of humanity's exploration of Andromeda, responsible for everyone on Hyperion, light years away from the home they all knew, over six hundred years of travel. And his father was dead, and his sister trapped in stasis for who knows how long. God, his sister. How was he supposed to handle that? She hadn’t had any further complications since he’d left, had she?

He rubbed his face with his hands and took another in a long line of deep breaths. “I… I…”

“What's the matter?” Liam asked, crossing his arms. “I think you're up for it.”

Logan gave him an incredulous look. “Really? I mean, I don't have any kind of training for this though. Why would my dad do this?”

Liam shrugged. “Your father had faith in you. And I've seen what you can do back on Habitat 7. I say run with it.”

“It's all academic anyway,” Lexi cut in. “SAM’s linked to your mind on a deeper level now. Trying to untangle it… could kill you.”

“I know this is tough,” Cora said. “But, we need to start thinking about the next step. A lot of people are counting on us.”

Logan nodded and ran his hand through his hair, wondering when he’d be able to stop taking deep breaths to steady himself. Today was a heck of a day. “Is, um, is the ark… okay? Is it still drifting?”

Liam answered. “That’s the thing, whatever your dad did with that tower, it saved the day. Some sort of atmosphere scrubber.”

Cora nodded. “The energy cloud thinned out. We’re on our way to the rally point now. Should be at the Nexus soon.”

“He needs to rest first,” Lexi stated sternly.

Cora looked at the doctor. “He’s got two hours.” She glanced back at Logan. “We’ll need our Pathfinder for this.”

Cora nodded to Liam, then jerked her head from Lexi to the door, and the three of them began to file out. Logan, however, called to Liam to wait a moment. He waited just long enough for the others to leave before opening his mouth, but Liam beat him to it.

“I checked on your sister. Still no change,” he said, warranting a relaxing sigh from Logan. “And hey, if you can pull through, so can she.”

He chuckled and gave a small smile. “Yeah. She’s always been tougher than me.”

Liam shrugged. “Bit of your dad in both of you.”

“Thanks,” Logan said as Liam headed out the door.

Silence permeated the room. Logan hung his head, no longer feeling the need to look strong for the others. It was something of an automatic response, he guessed, but this was a lot to take on. Sure, he’d had Alliance military training, but this was… He’d never been in a leadership position before, not like this. And this wasn’t just some assigned commander that had been killed, it was his father. Now he was left here, alone, no dad, no sister, no one he really knew to talk to. What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to lead these people?

“Your father will be missed,” the familiar slightly fuzzy voice of the AI finally spoke up again.

“I don’t know what I’m doing, what I’m going to do,” Logan told him, feeling his throat tighten. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

“This is our private channel,” SAM started. “I shared it with him.”

Not exactly the answer he was looking for, but it was something. “Why did he do it? Why did he pick me?”

“Unknown. But he never acted without reason.” That was only a little satisfying. “Alec wouldn’t want us to lose sight of the goal. He said pain emboldens our resolve. He’d insist we grow stronger from his passing.”

“Yeah… That sounds like him,” Logan admitted, wiping away tears. “I guess it was the same when mom died. But I had the rest of my family for that. People to lean on. But now everyone’s leaning on me. That’s a lot of pressure…”

“I am sure your father knew what he was doing, even if I do not understand it,” SAM offered.

“I guess if that’s all I’ve got, I’ll take it,” Logan said, swallowing a new set of tears that threatened to form, standing up, sniffled, cleared his throat, and took a deep breath before leaving SAM Node.

He walked through the steel corridors of Hyperion, heading to the medbay. A few people passed him, each one glancing at him with a concerned look. Logan had no idea if it was pity, sadness, or concern. How many people knew he was now the Pathfinder anyway? How many people believed in him? How many people didn’t? He tried not to think of it, focusing instead on just getting to the medbay.

When he opened the door, Lexi looked up with surprise. “Holden, I thought you’d be in your quarters, resting.”

He nodded. “I thought about it, but… Um, where’s my sister’s pod…?”

She looked him over for a moment, then nodded, turning to direct him to a corner of the room. “Over there. I’ll have a bed moved over for you.”

Logan offered her a small, grateful smile. “Thanks.”

For the next two hours, Logan lay on his side, staring at the pod that contained his comatose sister. Cherise had to wake up, she had to come and see this new galaxy, had to be here with him. It didn’t feel right to be doing any of this without her.

But he wasn’t looking forward to telling her that their father was dead.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and if you read this through, thanks a lot! This is my first posting on AO3 and I'm hoping to follow it up with more as I finish up new things and get my older stuff copied over from my Google Drive! I found a few things about Andromeda's story pretty well fitting for my usual "main character OC" and while I haven't even come close to finishing it yet, I've been greatly inspired to write a couple things based on events I've seen so far. It's making me more excited than I was otherwise to actually finish the game!


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